best paint remover

[oldjohn]

anybody got an easy,quick paint removal suggestion?

[Juggernut]

What type of paint?

[gunpowder]

Isopropanol Alcohol IPA 99.9% from amazon. I recently used it on a deagostini millennium falcon that had really think primer with Tamiya spray paint on top. Soak them in a tub for an hour or so and off it comes!

[LSP_Kevin]

If it's Gunze or Tamiya acrylics, I just use Windex. The latter paints in particular come off in seconds. For almost everything else, I use Mr. Color Thinner, which works almost as quickly. Just be warned that whatever you use, it's a messy process!

 

Kev

[Jean-Michel]

for a radical removal of the paint, try an oven cleaning foam. Put the kit in a plastic bag, spray, wait few hours, rinse with water. Plastic perfectly cleaned.

Edited March 23, 2024 by Jean-Michel

[Iain]

As has been said - depends on the type of paint.

 

Oven cleaner - or caustic soda - for enamels. Just bear in mind that caustic soda based solutions will elicit an exothermic reaction, that can cause plastic deformation if the solution is too strong - don't ask me how I know... 

 

99% Isopropyl Alcohol (or Windex etc.) for alcohol/water based acrylics. Kitchen paper soaked in the IPA laid over surface - then wipe away.

 

Iain

[thierry laurent]

Caustic soda can also dissolve glue! 

[Iain]

That's interesting Thierry - I've not had that - any particular brands?

 

But I tend to use PlasticWeld/MEK/Tamiya solvents in the main...

 

Iain

[Maxim61]

Tamiya Synthetic Lacquer Thinner will remove all paint without harming the plastic. I use it all the time after test primer. It's the bottle with the yellow cap.

[Paul2660]

Testers ELO works well. Scalecoat was the best but appears to be no longer made. AK Interactive also has a similar product in their line up. 
 

Paul

[LSP_K2]

For some belligerent paints, I find that Testors Easy Lift-Off works pretty well.

[MikeMaben]

I found out recently that Solvaset will remove MRP. 

 

        

 

 

[thierry laurent]

12 hours ago, Iain said:

That's interesting Thierry - I've not had that - any particular brands?

 

But I tend to use PlasticWeld/MEK/Tamiya solvents in the main...

 

Iain

Well, I observed that at least thirty five years ago. I had a cousin who loved building 1/24 trucks. He got a second hand assembled and roughly brush-painted AMT wrecker model from a friend. The kit was OOP for many years. So, in spite of the model state he was happy to get it. To restore it he put it in a mix of caustic soda pellets and water to remove paint. Two or three days later, there was a pile of separated white plastic parts in the plastic container he used! The parts were not damaged and were free of decals, paint and even glue close to everywhere. He cleaned the remains with an old toothbrush and got close to a new kit! There were obvious traces where glue had etched the plastic surface but I was really amazed! Unfortunately I did not do it myself and as it was a long time ago I have no clue about the brand, concentration or any other practical parameter. Nonetheless, that looked quite magical to me! 

[Iain]

That sounds like it was a brilliant outcome in that case Thierry!

 

I wonder if it was one of the 'cement' type glues used - and it had some organic content?

 

Worth knowing - I've used Caustic Soda for about 40 years - no issues with any glues coming apart - but I've always tended to use pure solvents as bonding agents...

 

Iain

[thierry laurent]

11 minutes ago, Iain said:

That sounds like it was a brilliant outcome in that case Thierry!

 

I wonder if it was one of the 'cement' type glues used - and it had some organic content?

 

Worth knowing - I've used Caustic Soda for about 40 years - no issues with any glues coming apart - but I've always tended to use pure solvents as bonding agents...

 

Iain

Well, at that time few model glues were available to us. We essentially worked with the quite messy Britfix 77 or similar tube cement glues! Later some more liquid glues appeared from Uhu, Revell and others. Unfortunately, I cannot remember what he used. Moreover as someone else built the kit, it was not possible to say for sure. This just looked like "standard" plastic glue.